Arthur Murray Dance Studios started with the vision of Arthur Murray himself, when he began teaching dance in 1912 at the young age of 17. In 1920, Arthur Murray organized the world's first 'radio dance', where a band played on the George Tech campus and was broadcast to a group of about 150 dancers situated atop the roof of the Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta.

Arthur Murray's initial success was due largely to his famous 'footprints' mail order business, which soon-to-be-dancers could place on their floor and follow to learn how to dance. In 1923, he opened his first studio on 43rd Street in New York City; by 1925, he had pioneered the Arthur Murray System of Teaching, where he trained dance instructors for the Statler Hotel chain who then went on to teach at various hotels. His slogan was "If you can walk, we teach you how to dance".

After World War II, the rise of interest in Latin dance propelled the Arthur Murray Dance Studios to new heights, and Arthur Murray himself regularly visited Cuba to teach and broadcast. He then made the jump to television, hosting a dance program called The Arthur Murray Party with his wife Kathryn. It ran from 1950 to 1960 on CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont.

Arthur Murray mania was so great that in 1942, Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger wrote the hit song 'Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry', sung by Betty Hutton. It also caught the attention of other greats of the time: singer/actor Desi Arnaz mentioned Arthur Murry in the lyrics of 'Cuban Pete', while actress Lucille Ball mentioned both the man and the business several times in I Love Lucy. And in the 1943 film The Sky's the Limit, a question from his partner has Fred Astaire himself claiming to be an Arthur Murray student.

Even today, Hollywood still frequently uses Arthur Murray for dance instruction and choreography on both the silver screen and the small screen. Today, you can see the influence of Arthur Murray dance instructors - and sometimes even the instructors themselves - on shows like Good Morning America, America's Ballroom Challenge, and Dancing With the Stars, just to name a few. Connecticut's Arthur Murray instructors have even appeared on NBC's Better Connecticut and ESPN's SportsCenter!

Today, Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios have grown into a network spanning six continents, including studios in United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Brazil. Arthur Murray's dream of teaching the world to dance is being fulfilled. And our standardized lessons are interchangeable from one Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studio to another, so you can keep learning and growing as a dancer wherever your life may take you.